Marathon Man smashes target

A former Arbroath man recently successfully completed an audacious challenge to raise money for cancer support.

At the end of October Barry Smale ran six marathons in six days taking him from Paris to his current hometown of London.

In doing so he raised over £8,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support and Ward 32 at Ninewells Hospital.

Barry was joined by six other runners each of whom took part in one marathon each and helped with the fund-raising, transport and other support tasks.

According to Barry, who trained hard for 10 months, things started well. He said: “To be honest I didn’t feel that tired.

“It was actually a breeze up until four-and-a-half marathons, but during the fifth marathon on the second last day both my thighs went and I was in excruciating pain.

“I had to run the last 40 miles in that pain but I was heavily dosed with ibuprofen and tiger balm to deal with it.”

He continued: “When I saw the finish line and got over that there was a sense of relief more than anything.

“But more of a sense of pride for everybody that was involved. It wasn’t just me but everyone involved gave up their time and their expense and it was a really nice feeling to have them on board and achieve it.

“I also had three amazing support crew from Arbroath.”

It was a worthwhile endeavour according to Barry, but perhaps one not soon to be repeated!

He said: “I’m definitely very pleased with the outcome. The original target was to get over £5,000 and to smash that was great.

“I’m considering some 10 kilometre runs next year and maybe a regular marathon the year after.

“I think there’s something in me that wants to do this again but not in the next couple of years!”

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